Center Letters in Spelling Bee History
Updated 2024-11-30
Each Spelling Bee puzzle consists of six letters arranged around a seventh letter; that seventh letter, in the middle of the circle of letters, is called the center letter.
Because every word valid word in any Spelling Bee puzzle must include the center letter, the center letter plays a critical role not only in the design of each Bee puzzle, but in the gameplay experience of every solver. When a less-common letter is in the center spot, the solution set is bound to be interesting.
J was the center letter on 2024-07-04, for the first and only time.
Q was the center letter on 2023-11-17, for the first and only time.
Z has been the center letter six times: 2020-10-27 2020-11-15 2022-04-06 2022-10-16 2022-11-05 2024-08-09
X has never been the center letter. And of course S has not, either.
Here are frequency numbers for all the center letters since the Bee began (all 2,255 puzzles, including the partial month of May 2018 and excluding the two known “stopgap” puzzles):
Because every word valid word in any Spelling Bee puzzle must include the center letter, the center letter plays a critical role not only in the design of each Bee puzzle, but in the gameplay experience of every solver. When a less-common letter is in the center spot, the solution set is bound to be interesting.
J was the center letter on 2024-07-04, for the first and only time.
Q was the center letter on 2023-11-17, for the first and only time.
Z has been the center letter six times: 2020-10-27 2020-11-15 2022-04-06 2022-10-16 2022-11-05 2024-08-09
X has never been the center letter. And of course S has not, either.
Here are frequency numbers for all the center letters since the Bee began (all 2,255 puzzles, including the partial month of May 2018 and excluding the two known “stopgap” puzzles):
IN DESCENDING ORDER OF NUMBER OF TIMES AS CENTER LETTER
LETTER USESO 222A 185T 183L 180I 171N 160C 152M 128R 124P 109B 105E 103H 102D 77U 77Y 76F 70G 59W 35V 33K 28Z 6J 1Q 1X 0
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
LETTER USESA 185B 105C 152D 77E 103F 70G 59H 102I 171J 1K 28L 180M 128N 160O 222P 109Q 1R 124T 183U 77V 33W 35X 0Y 76Z 6
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